A Different Kind of a Book Involving Electromagnetism and Potential Theory

Unlike other blog-posts of mine, I am not going "own" this particular thread. By that, I mean to say: I am going to only begin this thread and immediately turn it over to you completely. I am not going to watch over whether the discussion here continues to stick to its main theme or not, whether it slides into some minor side issues, whether it deserts the main theme altogether, etc., the way I usually do.

I ran into it in mid-August 2009. It can be downloaded for free from here: http://www.archive.org. (Search for it at this site.)

Unfortunately, I could not find the time to go through all of it. (One reason is that in order to do so, I will have to take a paper printout of it (my reading habits are old-fashioned), and somehow that has not happened so far.) Yet, I find that the book has been written very interestingly.

In our times, there is this widespread tendency to write in a self-censoring way so as not to offend anybody, to try to be as sensitive to as many desires (even whims) of as many other people as possible, to try to be "politically correct" even while writing for/on issues of hard science. Against this background, Carol White's book comes across as a breath of fresh air. (And to think that it was published barely 32 years---one generation---ago!)

Of course, I don't think I am going to concurr with every idea or opinion which she expresses in this book. But that hardly matters.

I still strongly recommend this book to you because of its directness, its freshness, its willingness to pick up philosophical issues for examination right while working through the things scientific.... All of this is so unlike our present times. Also, the engaging style in which the text has been written... You might pick up virtually any page at random and see what I mean. For that one reason alone---call it the "style" of the book if you wish---it makes for a very interesting reading.

It's precisely because the author writes with such a passion, candor and directness, in such an opinionated manner, that her content becomes so very interesting to read.

And that was the biggest point I wanted to make here.

[And yes, Riemann's essays might form an additional/major attraction for some of you.]

From this point on, in this thread (alone), I am going to ignore it even if you begin any comment by addressing it to me---remember, I no longer "own" this thread.

All in all, very highly recommended... And, I am eager to know your reactions to it/opinions about it.